The present invention is generally related to medical prostheses or implants for augmentation, tissue expansion or replacement of soft tissue, including breast implants. In particular, the present invention is related to implants filled with a keratin hydrogel.
Breast augmentation and reconstruction through medical procedures has been performed by physicians for decades. Early attempts using filler materials alone, without an enclosing envelope, had less than optimal long-term effects on appearance and health. The use of silicone gel-filled silicone envelopes gave improved long-term appearance but has created concerns for manufacturers, surgeons and patients due to possible leakage of the silicone gel from the envelopes into the body. These concerns had the effect of removing silicone gel-filled breast implants from some markets, such as the United States. Saline-filled breast implants have been used in place of the silicone-filled implants. The use of saline has led to fewer concerns, but saline-filled silicone implants have been reported as having a less natural shape and consistency.
Another issue in the field of breast reconstruction and in the healing of open wounds is the use of tissue expanders. Tissue expanders typically include a bladder or envelope that will hold a liquid such as saline. The expander is placed over a wound, or may be implanted under tissue, such as under the muscles below a surgically removed breast. During use in breast reconstruction, a small amount of saline is added to the envelope periodically until the desired size is reached. By adding liquid slowly over a period of weeks or months, the covering tissue is allowed to expand to accommodate its size. Tissue expanders may also be used to cover an open wound and serve as a platform for the growth of new skin over the wound. Unfortunately, in order to change the volume of the tissue expander a needle must be inserted into the envelope, thus requiring penetration of the tissue and causing pain and an increased possibility of infection.
What would be desirable is a safe, non-toxic, non-antigenic material for use in implants that has a consistency more like that of the original human soft tissue. A further advantage would be an implant that can be implanted using potentially minimally invasive surgical procedures. What would be desirable is a tissue expander that is able to absorb fluid from the patient after implantation so that the expander could reach the desired size without repeated intrusive procedures.
The present disclosure addresses the shortcomings of the prior art by providing a safer, more natural appearing implant for augmenting or reconstructing the human breast or other tissue such as penile, testicular, gluteal, or facial tissue. Preferred implants include an outer envelope made of silicone or a biocompatible polymer and having an interior containing a keratin hydrogel. The hydrogel can be made from a keratinous material that is obtained from a biological source, especially keratin obtained from hair, feathers, hooves, feet, beaks, skin or nails of a mammal. The keratin is preferably obtained from hair, and more preferably from human hair. Human hair is especially desirable because of its ready availability as cuttings from barber and beauty shops, because human hair is likely to have less antigenicity in a human subject, and because hair can be harvested from the intended implant recipient. In certain embodiments implants include a hydrogel formed from hydrating a keratin material prepared as described in copending U.S. patent application filed concurrently herewith and entitled xe2x80x9cWater Absorbent Keratin and Gel Formed Therefrom,xe2x80x9d incorporated herein in its entirety by reference. In certain embodiments implants include a keratin hydrogel formed using an alternative method as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,932,552 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,159,496, both incorporated herein in their entirety by reference.
In more detail, a keratin hydrogel for use in the prosthetic devices described herein may be formed by adding an aqueous solvent such as water to a hydratable keratin material. This hydratable material can be made by a first process beginning with providing a keratinous material including keratin having disulfide bonds and partially oxidizing the keratin disulfide bonds, such that sulfonic acid residues are formed. The sulfonic acid containing keratin material can subsequently be placed in a solvent containing cations, preferably monovalent cations. In certain preferred embodiments, a solution containing the oxidized keratin material is neutralized, or raised to a pH that is less acidic than the oxidation solution. Without limiting the patent to a particular mechanism, in certain embodiments, and depending on the solvent used, the pH may be raised to a level above the pKa of the sulfonic acid groups to obtain sulfonic acid groups in an anionic state, or having a negative charge. It is contemplated that anionic sulfonic acid groups may more easily form ionic associations or even ionic bonds with the cations. When a substantial part of the liquid is removed from the keratin/cationic solution, a salt or solid salt including the keratin and cations may be isolated. This solid is hydratable, highly absorbent, and forms a hydrogel upon re-hydration. The solid may be used in fibrous or powdered form, and adding water to the solid forms a viscoelastic hydrogel suitable for use as a prosthetic implant filler.
A preferred source of keratinous material is human hair, although the keratin may be obtained from hair or fur of animals including any mammal, from finger or toenail material or from hooves, or from the beaks, feet or feathers of birds. Human hair is a preferred source of keratin because of its ready availability from cuttings of barber and beauty shops, because it is expected to be less prone to cause undesirable immune or allergic reactions in a human should any leakage occur, and because a keratin preparation may be made from the hair of a subject for whom the preparation will be used. This last advantage can be especially important in embodiments involving subdermal implantations.
It is well known in the art that keratins are highly sulfated, that is, the amino acid sequence of keratin contains a high proportion of cysteine residues as compared to proteins in general. These cysteines each include a sulfhydryl moiety that is able to bond with another sulfhydril moiety from another cysteine residue to form a disulfide bond known as a cystine residue. The second cysteine may reside within the same keratin molecule, or in another keratin molecule. These disulfide bonds are responsible for much of the tertiary and/or quaternary structure of this class of proteins. A suitable oxidizing agent is able to break this disulfide bond and to oxidize one or both of the sulfide moieties so that they are no longer able to form a disulfide. Such an oxidation is a part of the process of forming the keratin products of the present disclosure. Preferred oxidizing agents include, but are not limited to peracetic acid, hydrogen peroxide, perborates, percarbonates, benzoyl peroxide, or ammonium sulfate peroxide. However, any suitable oxidizing agent known in the art can be used in the practice of the invention. After oxidation, the liquid oxidizing agent can be filtered from the oxidized keratin solid, and the solid may be washed to remove residual oxidizing agent, for example.
The resulting solid may then be suspended in a non-aqueous solvent and the pH may be adjusted upward with basexe2x80x94conveniently to at least neutral pH. Preferred solvents for this second solution do not include significant water as the water may hydrolyze the peptide backbone during processing. Preferred solvents would include alcohols such as methanol, ethanol, or propanol, for example, and would also include non-aqueous solvents such as acetone and tetrahydrofuran, for example. An effective solvent should be able to solvate a base and should also be able to provide a medium able to keep the keratin sufficiently open to allow ionic associations or interactions between the base cations and anionic sulfonic acid groups in the keratin. Preferred bases include, but are not limited to sodium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide and ammonium hydroxide, which, as is known in the art, would yield or produce sodium, potassium and ammonium ions, respectively, upon entering solution.
The keratin suspension may be heated, and is preferably heated to boiling for a time sufficient to swell the keratin. The keratin suspension may be stirred without heat for a longer period of time to allow a more complete association or reaction between the sulfonic acid groups and the base cations. The continued reaction time at or near room temperature, or even below room temperature while stirring is contemplated by the inventors to allow the base cations to approach and bind to the keratin anionic sites with a lower incidence of peptide backbone degradation that could occur with continued boiling. The cations for use in the present invention, therefore, must be able to interact with the anionic cysteic acid groups in the keratin material. The use of the term xe2x80x9ccationsxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cmonovalent cationsxe2x80x9d in the present disclosure and claims is an indication of those cations that are able to form such an interaction. After a sufficient reaction time, the keratin solid may be removed from the suspension by filtration, for example, and dried, leaving a solid salt formed of the keratin sulfonic acid or cysteic acid groups and base cations. This solid may be shredded into a fibrous form and/or ground into a finely divided powder. This solid may be used in certain embodiments, or it may be hydrated by adding water, for example, and the hydrogel, or viscoelastic hydrogel thus formed may be used in certain embodiments.
The keratin hydrogel so formed is suitable for use as an implant filler, for example, used to fill a breast implant, or to augment soft tissue for cosmetic, reconstructive or aesthetic reasons, or it may be used in a tissue expander. In certain embodiments, a dry keratin hydrogel precursor may be placed in a semipermeable silicone shell, for example and implanted in a body cavity, wound, or scar where new tissue growth is needed. This technique is known in the art to be useful in breast reconstruction, in treatment of male pattern baldness, for treatment of wounds, birth defects, and the like.
The present invention may be described, therefore, in certain aspects as a prosthetic device or implant, or even a tissue expander device, wherein the device includes a composition comprising a hydratable keratin solid to be used as a filler for a the device, wherein the solid comprises a keratin where at least a portion of the cysteic groups of the keratin are ionically associated with, or may be ionically bound to cations. As used herein, ionically bound or ionically associated would have their ordinary meaning as is known in the art, and would include the electrostatic attraction between an anion and a cation, and would include such interactions directly, such as through formation of ionic bonds, and interactions through intermediary bipolar moieties, for example. A cysteic group would include cysteine and derivatives of cysteine including cystine and cysteic acid. As used herein, cysteic acid and sulfonic acid denote a cysteine side chain in which the terminal sulfur is bonded to three oxygen atoms to produce the sulfonic acid ion, SO3xe2x88x92, or the acidic form, SO3H. In certain embodiments, a portion of the cysteic groups are oxidized to cysteic acid groups. Cysteic acid groups may comprise a significant portion of the total cysteic groups. The extent of the oxidation may be adjusted by adjusting certain parameters of the oxidation reactions, such as temperature, concentration of oxidizing agent, and time of reaction, for example, to achieve a product with certain desired properties, such as absorbency or resiliency, for example.
In certain embodiments, therefore, the hydratable keratin solid is made by a process comprising oxidizing a portion of the disulfide groups of a keratin to obtain a keratin having oxidized cysteic groups, and contacting the keratin having oxidized cysteic groups with monovalent cations under conditions effective to form ionic associations or ionic bonds between at least a portion of the oxidized cysteic groups and the cations.
In some embodiments, the hydratable keratin solid is made by a process comprising oxidizing at least a portion of the disulfide groups of a keratin to obtain a keratin having oxidized cysteic groups, and contacting said keratin having oxidized cysteic groups with monovalent cations under conditions effective to form ionic associations or ionic bonds between a substantial portion of said oxidized cysteic groups and said cations. The oxidization may comprise placing the keratin in a solution containing a concentration of an oxidizing agent effective to oxidize a portion of the disulfide groups. The portion of oxidized disulfide groups may be a major portion of the total cysteic acid groups.
In certain embodiments of the present invention, the oxidation comprises placing the keratin in a solution containing a concentration of hydrogen peroxide, peracetic acid, perborates, percarbonates, benzoyl peroxide, or ammonium sulfate peroxide effective to oxidize a portion of the disulfide groups.
The process of the present invention may farther comprise heating the keratin solid containing oxidized cysteic groups in a solvent solution containing a dissolved base. The solvent solution may comprise a solvent selected from methanol, ethanol, propanol, ether, tetrahydrofuran (THF), and acetone. In certain embodiments the process further comprises removing the solution from the heat and stirring for a time effective to form ionic bonds between the cysteic acid groups and cations produced by the base. The process may also further comprise drying the keratin solid, such as by drying a solid or solution under vacuum.
Another aspect of the present invention includes prosthetic implants that comprise a keratin hydrogel wherein the hydrogel is produced by adding water to a composition comprising a hydratable keratin solid, wherein the solid comprises a keratin where at least a portion of the cysteic acid groups of the keratin are ionically bound to cations. In some embodiments, the hydrogel is a keratin viscoelastic hydrogel produced by adding water to a composition comprising a hydratable keratin solid, wherein the solid comprises a keratin where a portion of the cysteic acid groups of the keratin are ionically bound to or associated with cations.
Another aspect of the present invention is the use in a prosthetic implant of a hydratable keratin solid made by (1) oxidizing keratin in a first solution comprising a soluble oxidizing agent, such that a portion of the disulfide bonds of the keratin are oxidized to form cysteic acid residues, to obtain an oxidized solid fraction; (2) separating the oxidized solid fraction from the first solution; (3) contacting the oxidized solid fraction with a second, basic solution comprising a monovalent cation dissolved in a solvent; (4) maintaining the second solution containing the oxidized solid fraction and the monovalent cations for a time and at a temperature effective to cause an interaction between the cysteic acid residues and the monovalent cations to obtain a salt solution of the keratin and the monovalent cation; and (5) substantially removing the solvent from the salt solution to obtain a hydratable keratin solid.
The process may also further comprise adjusting the pH of the second solution, to obtain a substantially neutral solution. In some embodiments, the keratin is obtained from hair or fur, and is preferably obtained from human hair.
In some embodiments, the keratin is oxidized by suspending the keratin in a solution of a suitable oxidizing agent, such as one selected from the group consisting of hydrogen peroxide, peracetic acid, perborates, percarbonates, benzoyl peroxide, and ammonium sulfate peroxide, in a concentration of between about 1 and about 35 weight/volume percent. In various embodiments, the keratin is oxidized by suspending the keratin in a solution of an oxidizing agent selected from the group consisting of hydrogen peroxide, peracetic acid, perborates, percarbonates, benzoyl peroxide, and ammonium sulfate peroxide, in a concentration of about 1, or about 2, or about 3, or about 4, or about 10, or about 15, or about 20, or about 30, or about 32, or about 35 weight/volume percent. As used herein the term weight/volume percent refers to a solution in which the concentration is determined in weight percent, that is then diluted into a particular volume, arriving at a weight/volume percent. For example, in order to arrive at the oxidant solutions described herein a xe2x80x9cstock solutionxe2x80x9d at fairly high concentration is diluted in water. As an example, hydrogen peroxide may be purchased as a 30 weight % solution (30 grams of peroxide per 100 grams of solution). To make 1 liter of a 2% solution of this, one would dilute 66.7 mL of the 30 weight % stock solution in 933.7 mL of water. The net effect is to cut the stock solution 15-fold (from 30 down to 2%). This ratio is a weight to volume ratio, so the resulting solution is described as 2 weight/volume %.
In some embodiments, the keratin is oxidized by suspending the keratin in a solution of a suitable oxidizing agent, such as one selected from the group consisting of hydrogen peroxide, peracetic acid, perborates, percarbonates, benzoyl peroxide, and ammonium sulfate peroxide, in a concentration of between about 1 and about 35 weight/volume percent, at a temperature between about 0xc2x0 C. and about 100xc2x0 C. In other embodiments the temperature is between about 4xc2x0 C. and about 90xc2x0 C., or between about 20xc2x0 C. and about 100xc2x0 C., or between about 80xc2x0 C. and about 100xc2x0 C. In other embodiments, the temperature is about 4xc2x0 C., or about 90xc2x0 C., or about 100xc2x0 C.
The present invention may also include the process wherein the keratin is oxidized by suspending said keratin in a solution of an oxidizing agent selected from the group consisting of hydrogen peroxide, peracetic acid, perborates, percarbonates, benzoyl peroxide, and ammonium sulfate peroxide, in a concentration of between about 1 and about 35 weight/volume percent, at a temperature between about 0xc2x0 C. and about 100xc2x0 C. for a period of between 0.5 and about 24 hours, or in a concentration of oxidizing agent of between about 1 and about 35 weight/volume percent, at a temperature between about 0xc2x0 C. and about 100xc2x0 C. for a period of between 1 and about 2 hours, or for between about 2 and about 4 hours, or for between about 1 and about 4 hours, or for a period of about 10 hours.
More specifically, the process of making the keratin solid may include oxidizing the keratin by suspending the keratin in a solution of between about 1 percent to about 32 percent peracetic acid at a temperature between about 0xc2x0 C. and about 100xc2x0 C. for between about 0.5 and about 24 hours, or by suspending the keratin in a solution of about 1 percent peracetic acid at a temperature between about 0xc2x0 C. and about 100xc2x0 C. for between about 0.5 and about 24 hours, or by suspending the keratin in a solution of between about 4 percent peracetic acid at a temperature of about 4xc2x0 C. for 24 hours, or by suspending the keratin in a solution of about 4 percent peracetic acid at room temperature for about 24 hours, or by suspending the keratin in a solution of about 4 percent peracetic acid at about 90xc2x0 C. for about 10 hours, or by suspending the keratin in a solution of about 4 percent peracetic acid at a temperature between about 20xc2x0 C. and about 100xc2x0 C. for between about 1 and about 4 hours, or by suspending the keratin in a solution of about 4 percent peracetic acid at a temperature between about 80xc2x0 C. and about 100xc2x0 C. for between about 1 and about 2 hours, or even by suspending the keratin in a solution of about 2 percent peracetic acid at a temperature between about 0xc2x0 C. and about 100xc2x0 C. for about 2 hours.
A second solution in the process of making the disclosed keratin compositions, wherein the second solution contains the oxidized solid fraction and monovalent cations may be heated, and may also be boiled for between about 0.5 hours and about 12 hours, for between about 0.5 hours and about 3 hours, or for about 1 hour. When said solution is boiled, the solution may be allowed to continue reacting while being stirred after removal of the heat. Alternatively, the solution may be stirred and allowed to react without the application of heat, or of boiling temperatures. In certain embodiments, the solution is allowed to react at a temperature of between about 15xc2x0 C. and about 30xc2x0 C. for a period of between about 1 and about 24 hours, or at a temperature of between about 20xc2x0 C. and about 25xc2x0 C. for a period of between about 1 and about 5 hours, or at room temperature for a period of about 5 hours.
Implants made with a hydratable keratin solid offer particular advantages over other implants, especially in implants that involve a large amount of material, such as breast or gluteal pad implants. In a preferred method of use, the hydratable keratin solid in powder or fiber form may be added to an envelope interior prior to insertion, and water may then be injected into the envelope after implantation, thus forming the hydrogel in situ. In the practice of this embodiment, the implant envelope containing a dry solid will have a small volume relative to the size of the final implant, thereby allowing a relatively small incision for insertion of the implant. In certain applications, it may be more advantageous to implant an empty envelope, again allowing for a relatively small incision, to form a hydrogel outside the body and then injecting the hydrogel into the envelope through a large bore needle, for example. It is also understood that implants may be formed with the hydrogel in place in the envelope prior to implantation.
Tissue expanders made with a hydratable keratin solid offer particular advantages over other tissue expanders, especially tissue expanders which require volume adjustments which are made through an externally filled tube. The use of an external filling is often uncomfortable and inconvenient for the patient, and can lead to an increased incidence of infection. In a preferred method of use, the hydratable keratin solid in powder or fiber form may be added to a tissue expander envelope interior. The permeation of body fluids through the envelope can be controlled through the use of certain materials and engineering principle well known to those skilled in the art. The control of the diffusion rate has the effect of controlling the hydration rate of the keratin solid and thus, the expansion rate of the hydrogel thus formed. The expansion rate can thus be controlled in-situ, without the use of an external fill tube. This method of use would lead to a more comfortable and convenient tissue expander with lower incidence of infection. Alternatively, the hydration rate of the keratin solid can be controlled by controlling the absorbency of the keratin solid during manufacture as described herein. A solid tissue expander formed from an absorbent keratin solid with a controlled absorption rate would have the advantage of expanding its volume at a controlled rate in-situ, and thus providing the same advantages as noted previously.
In certain embodiments implants can be made using a keratin hydrogel formed using a method that does not include a hydratable keratin solid stage. An implantable keratin hydrogel can be made by a process beginning with providing a keratinous material from a biological source, such as hair, fur, feathers, hooves or nails, most preferably human hair, and oxidizing the hair or other keratin material. The oxidized hair can be suspended in a base solution, such as an ammonium hydroxide solution, for example, wherein the solution contains thioglycolate. The solution may then be heated, and stirred under an inert environment such as an N2 environment, for example. Although the use of a nitrogen environment may be preferred for certain embodiments, any oxidatively inert gas such as argon or helium, for example, may also be used. A swelled fraction of keratin gel can be separated from the suspension and added to an oxidizing agent such as hydrogen peroxide or peracetic acid, for example. Alternately, the swelled fraction can be exposed to ambient air. The gel can be allowed to stand in the oxidizing environment, thereby forming a crosslinked hydrogel. This method of forming a crosslinked gel is described more completely in U.S. Pat. No. 5,932,552 incorporated herein by reference.
The implant can be made by filling the envelope interior either before or after implantation. In implants filled after implantation, the implant can be rolled into a small profile shape and inserted through a small incision into the interior of a breast or other organ or area to receive an implant. As is well known in the art, an incision for breast replacement may be made in the navel, or near the edge of a mastectomy scar, for example, and incisions for augmentation may also be made in the crease at the bottom of the breast or around the areolar area of the breast. The envelope can then be unrolled and the hydrogel injected through a large bore needle, using the same incision used to insert the envelope. The injection can be made into a self-sealing port provided in the envelope.
Hair is a preferred source of keratin for the present invention. In particular, human hair is a preferred source. In one method, hair is harvested from the intended implant recipient. While any human hair is believed suitable as a source, the use of hair from the intended recipient may provide a psychological and allergenic advantage relative to hair from other sources.
The present invention arises from the discovery by the present inventors that prosthetic implants, or implants to replace or augment soft tissues in the body, especially in the human body can be made from a keratin material, and in a most preferred embodiment, from human hair. The implants described herein offer numerous advantages over other implants, especially silicone, saline, or even autogenous fat cells. These advantages include that the keratin gel implants are less toxic than silicone implants should a leakage occur, keratin gel implants have a more natural look and feel than saline implants, and keratin implants require an incision or injection only at the site of implant, and do not require a second invasive procedure for harvesting tissue such as fat cells, for example.